Trainin' in the Rain

[lwt16]

Way back when we carried Beretta 92s, mine became completely submerged in chest deep water while I was fording an overflowing drainage ditch that got hit with a 100 year rain storm. My call was to try to make it to a woman's house who had just had open heart surgery, was there by herself, and needed to be prepped for extraction via John boat.

I would estimate that pistol was submerged for up to 30 minutes.

A simple field strip, cleaning, and compressed air blowout was all that was needed and the pistol never gave me any issues until I traded it in on the department M&Ps that replaced it. Only issue I ever had with the 92 platform was a broken firing pin and that was from too much dry firing in an active shooter class where they zip tied our barrels but you could still dry fire double action.

Regards.

[1986s4]

In live in the SE and our usual extreme weather is hot & humid which equals sweat. Just a drop of water on blued steel will rust within an hour when it's hot. During the rainy season our range becomes a swamp with 3-4" standing water. Some matches will cancel, the carbine matches I prefer will not cancel and if the course description means the shooters box is in 4" standing water then that's where it goes. If it rains then so be it. My pistol is in my holster so my clothing provides some cover but the carbine is constantly exposed.
Recently shot a carbine match in constant rain. I changed jackets halfway through because the first one soaked through [real world test]. Changed hats too for the same reason. When the hands get soaked things become slippery so for that reason I selected my Colt 1911 because it new Gunner grips.
My AR carbine and Colt pistol functioned perfectly. When I got home I field stripped everything and placed them in front of the heater. Then re-lube and reassemble, no rust. Things I learned:
1) mags can be lost in puddles, ask a buddy to get them as soon as one is done.
2) get those grippy grips, they work.
3) I use Frog lube on the exterior of my weapons, I re-apply regularly and thus far no rust.
4) Use good clothing, it's way more comfortable when it's not soaked through.
5) I shoot irons on my pistol and carbine. Even so a drop of water in the rear peep will block your view.
6) The guys using RMR's on their pistols had water pooling up on them and that made the dot hard to pick up. But I don't have a RMR on my pistols so that's only what I heard.
Regards

[revchuck38]

Even so a drop of water in the rear peep will block your view.

You ain't lived until you're shooting in the rain and the water hits the gas tube.

[03RN]

I don't even notice rain. Stationed in Hawaii we got rained on every day. If it ain't raining, we ain't training.

Then spent ten years on a commercial fishing boat. The required work was still there wether it was pooring, snowing, or beautiful.

I like shooting in the rain. It keeps the riff raff home. I'm always bummed when competitions are cancelled due to rain.

[Dave J]

I've found that in many places, shooting in bad weather greatly increases the odds that I'll have the range all to myself. Or, if anyone else is there, it'll only be the serious shooters and not the idiots, and we all have a much better time. So I really enjoy shooting in the rain.

However, there's a downside, and that has to do with what rain does to paper and cardboard targets.

Obviously, you can shoot steel in any weather, but I don't like that being my only option. So here are some things I've found useful:

- For targets, tagboard holds up better in light/moderate rain much better than plain paper.

- Improvising a "roof" on the target stands helps a great deal. I have some precut sections of corrugated plastic target backer material for this. I'm not sure of the proper name for the material -- it's similar to corrugated cardboard, but made from plastic. You can buy it from places like Action Target or LE targets.com. It's also better than cardboard as target backer, since it doesn't absorb water.

- If you want to get that corrugated plastic material for free, look for leftover political campaign yard signs following an election. I've also found used foam core presentation boards in the trash at work, which make good target backers for rainy days.

- For heavy rain, I have a supply of "Rite in the Rain" paper targets, including B-8C's, 3x5 cards, and the new Army zero target. These are more expensive, so I only use them when necessary, but they work really well.

- "Grease resistant" paper plates are dirt cheap and hold up almost as well as the "Rite in the Rain" paper. I use them quite a bit.

- I have a small stash of plastic all-weather USPSA targets that I think came from Brownell's. I avoid using them due to cost, but they occasionally allow me to run certain drills in almost any weather.

- Clear plastic trash bags very useful on rainy days, along with binder clips to keep them in place. The best bags I've found were made to fit a large office paper shredder at my work. I need to find out the brand name sometime. They're big enough to cover full size targets, and are crystal clear, vs. the opaque milky color that most garbage bags are. If I want to shoot a casino drill or something that requires a paper target in heavy rain, I can just leave the bag over the target and shoot right through it. Or, if I'm setting up things in advance, the bags preserve the paper & cardboard until we get started, or can keep things intact during a passing shower.

Anyone else have any useful tips or tricks?

[Olim9]

I need to find out the brand name sometime.

Drycleaner garment bags work well. You can get them for cheap on amazon

[Chuck Whitlock]

I'm fond of the card stock targets, which are not much more $ than paper and a lot cheaper than cardboard. Targets Online and Omaha Targets are two sources.

[Lomshek]

- Improvising a "roof" on the target stands helps a great deal. I have some precut sections of corrugated plastic target backer material for this. I'm not sure of the proper name for the material -- it's similar to corrugated cardboard, but made from plastic. You can buy it from places like Action Target or LE targets.com. It's also better than cardboard as target backer, since it doesn't absorb water.

It's called Coroplast. You can get a 4' x 8" sheet for $21 bucks (Home Depot) new or buy scraps from a printer.

I've used it as backer (the range gets old political signs) and it works great for that but bullet holes get jagged on the back side. Thought about a roof over the targets but if it's raining the wind is blowing here and usually blowing hard.

Usually I just use dry cleaner bags. You can get a 50 pack on Amazon pretty cheap. When I ran USPSA matches I bought an entire roll (500 or 1000 bags I think) from a dry cleaner that took me about 7 years of matches to go through.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Shot an IDPA match yesterday in a misty, slight drizzle with a couple of small showers. The major showers held off till we were done. Had my Cabela's Gortex jacket and it worked out. 3 down for the whole match with my SW 1911Sc Commander. Ran well. Times suck, esp. as I move like a snail nowadays. My planning worked well for having extra boots. My were caked at the end, so I put them in a trash bag and switched to the extra to avoid mud mess in the vehicle.

Mandatory after match meal report. Chicken Mole Enchiladas with great Boracho beans. Chocolate donut bought at HEB picking up some stuff on the way home. Gun and mags didn't really get dirty.

[scjbash]

Silicone waterproofing spray works great on cardboard targets. The cheap stuff from Walmart's camping section works as well as any of it. A light mist on both sides of a USPSA target will keep the water beading off like a waxed car. The only downside is sharpies won't write on treated targets.

I keep some stocked so if it's raining I can grab them and go. I write W on the back of the waterproofed targets to keep them separate. Just remember to write on them before they are sprayed.